Fire burns off the dross of the hidden gem to reveal the precious metal. In struggle, it is the call to action that burns off the negative habit, distorted values and laziness of those who answer that call to reveal the precious jewels of humanity. With 2018 just a few days away, the call to action that is the Campaign to Redistribute the Pain 2018 is set to kick off Feb. 1, 2018. Let the fire burn bright.

Queen Tahiyrah of the National Freedom and Justice Movement, F.O.M., and Sign o’ the Times blogtalk radio has created a flier for the campaign, in addition to our https://redistributethepain.wordpress.com blog, and our redistributethepain@gmail.com email. Queen T can be reached on Facebook in the SignOTheTimes group, by email to signothetimes19@gmail.com, or call 513-913-2691. You can also write to her at 1623 Dalton St. #14393, Cincinnati, OH 45250.

As 2018 draws near, over 2.5 million people remain behind bars, walls, steel and cages. The burden of changing our circumstances remains squarely on our shoulders. We have to change our thoughts about how freedom is possible to attain, then change our actions.

Many of us know about completing our sentence as a way to freedom, or an appeal, post-conviction petition or parole. We have to amend this paradigm to include the collective actions that we can take as a unified body to bring about freedom as well.

As 2018 draws near, over 2.5 million people remain behind bars, walls, steel and cages. The burden of changing our circumstances remains squarely on our shoulders.

There is no escaping the fact that we, as a body, constitute a significant sector of the economic pie chart that funds and fuels mass incarceration and prison slavery. For purposes of this call for a nationwide boycott campaign, we have identified four sectors of the Prison Industrialized Complex that serve as some of the main economic drivers for prison budgets, which generate billions of dollars annually to fund prison operations:

Collect phone calls

Canteen / store / snack line

Incentive package purchases

Visitation vending and electronic visitation

The collect phone call industry is, by far, the most exploitive monopoly of the four enterprises. I don’t want to speculate on the amount of money we spend nationwide on phone calls, other than to say that this figure has to be in the billions of dollars.

The prison companies contract with the phone companies to carry out this extortion scheme through legal kickback schemes. We are locked up in these closed environments. If we want to maintain contact with our families, we have to pay a ransom to the phone company.

The prison system charges the phone company a cut (kickback) for being able to set up shop inside of the prison. The prison system’s cut or kickback percentage becomes part of the overall operations budget used to pay salaries, buy equipment, pay for water, electricity etc.

So, not only our slave labor, but also our financial contributions are helping to keep this empire running. Therefore, we have to boycott these ventures to help defund prison operations budgets.

Just as easily as a habeas corpus or appeal can free you, so, too, can you gain your freedom if a DOC has to close down prisons due to insufficient funds in their budgets to fund operations.

The fact that these industries generate billions of dollars each year merely attests to the enormous power that our families have over U.S. prison operations. Every time that they reject a collect call, they empower themselves by sending a message to the phone company that they will no longer assist in funding prison operations costs.

Not only our slave labor, but also our financial contributions are helping to keep this empire running. Therefore, we have to boycott these ventures to help defund prison operations budgets.

For those of us on the inside, when we stop picking up those phones, we send the message that we are ready to talk to our families at home in the living room and on the porch. These conversations are free and priceless.

The distinctively unique feature about these prison monopolies, as I’ve stated before, is that as incarcerated and enslaved people, we are their only customers. This makes it clear, without any doubt, that as much as organizations and groups grapple and fight with the FCC and the phone companies over prices, the POWER to effect change, immediate change, lies exclusively in our hands alone.

And always keep in mind that while it may cost $5, $10 or $20 to make a call, it don’t cost a penny to boycott for a month.

Casting a wide net!
Many of the owners of these cottage industry companies are former corrections officials. They either own the companies outright or are major investors. Others are family members, business associates or political contributors.

So, boycotting incentive package company Union Supply, for example, has ripple effects on many balance sheets. In addition, the employees of these companies feel the heat from participating in this evil industry. There’s plenty of pain pent up and caged inside these prisons, and we need to #RedistributeThePain in 2018 so that others can feel its intensity.

Beginning Feb. 1, 2018
When the campaign kicks off, I recommend that we invest approximately 25 percent of whatever you/we save into a fund to purchase books, stamps, newspaper subscriptions and office supplies to help print material, all to support the campaign. IWOC has indicated that their main body has donated $4,000 for book purchases.

Free Alabama Movement is contributing $750 to T-shirts, plus $250 to help purchase ink. If you have a submission for a T-shirt design, please send it to: Free Alabama Movement, P.O. Box 186, New Market, AL 35761 or email redistributethepain@gmail.com. If we choose your design, you’ll win $50 for books or newspaper subscriptions, tuition payment or other educational need.

Newspaper Subscription of the Month – February 2018: SF Bay View, one month $2, one year $24

Publication of the Month – February 2018: Prison Legal News, six months $18, one year $30

These are just a few of the recommended reading materials that you will find on our WordPress blog. I suggest that those who can make these purchases, and those who can’t reach out to FAM, IWOC, Queen T or Bay View, and collectively we will try to handle the request or send it to someone who can.

One other request that I would like to put out there personally is the need of assistance in developing an app that helps us to better analyze and break down each state’s prison system, each individual prison, and each prison’s industry and labor force, just to name a few. A person should be able to click on an app and at least get the following information at any time:

Population

Total jobs worked by incarcerated

Each job description

Paid jobs / amounts

Unpaid jobs

Total canteen sales

Total collect calls

Total incentive packages purchased

Total visitation vending

All products made by prison labor

All services provided by prison labor

(Other factors may be included)

Creating our own app in aid of our movement is not cost prohibitive. We already have the funds to pay for it, but we are spending it on potato chips, cookies, candy, collect phone calls and processed food instead. For the most part, all of this is public information that is available to us through Freedom of Information Act and Open Records Act requests. In addition, we can use survey questionnaires, civil litigation, and other methods to start culling information out of these prisons and start painting a picture of what the business of prisons is really all about.

Wherever there is unity, there is power. So, let’s utilize 2018 as the year to continue to strengthen our unity, so that we can make 2018 a very powerful year for our movement, while also making it a very painful year for prison profiteers, human traffickers and the institution of slavery.

Our circumstances absolutely will not change until our thoughts and actions change. We have been spending, funding and enriching the system long enough. Now it is time to Boycott, Defund and Bankrupt.

Stop financing our own oppression. It’s time to Redistribute the Pain in 2018.

Greetings of love, dedication and resiliency to all Freedom Fighters and fearless frontline generals, soldiers and warriors who dare to struggle and sacrifice for liberty, freedom and equality from behind these walls, fences and cages of genocide and oppression. As we continue to raise awareness and lift up our voices so that we may be heard on the issues of systemic racism and economic exploitation in the criminal justice system, as well as prison slavery and police killings and brutality, we continue to see an evil and determined enemy dig in its heels in the name of White Supremacy.

In October 2017, it was reported that the Trump administration is seeking more immigration jails and detention facilities to house more immigrants that they plan to arrest. Prior to this, in September 2017, President Trump gave a speech in Huntsville, Alabama, to deliver his latest “rally the troops” speech to a captivated and applauding audience with a clear message to White America that Black people in this country must be kept in our “place” or suffer the consequences.

It was not by coincidence that Trump chose Alabama, the Heart of Dixie, to deliver his racist and misogynistic statement. A footnote on Alabama history is in order here.

On May 21, 1901, at the Constitutional Convention of 1901 of the State of Alabama, we find the following statements in the official minutes of the proceedings from convention president-elect John B. Knox:

“And what is it that we want to do? Why it is, within the limits imposed by the federal Constitution, to establish white supremacy in this state.”

Mr. Knox further states:

“But if we would have white supremacy, we must establish it by law – not by force or fraud.”

President Trump’s choice of Alabama to make his “son of a bitch” speech coincides with the comments made by our Sister Jemele Hill of ESPN, as we can all now see that birds of the same feather flock together. Trump’s statement expressed a clear ideology of white supremacy: When a Black mother gives birth to a Black child who she would raise up to be a man who speaks out against racism and oppression, then, in the eyes of white supremacist ideology, that mother is a bitch. And, according to this ideology, these sons of bitches should be fired or, worse, fired on.

Colin Kaepernick, a man of bi-racial origin, raised by a white family, and deeply rooted in Black and human consciousness, made a stand by taking a knee. President Trump took a fall by trying to stand in the same space as a man.

As vanguards of the current Prisoners’ Human Rights Movement, we, too, are charged with taking a stand. The Campaign to Redistribute the Pain in 2018 is a call to action for those serious about freedom, justice and economic equality. Just like Colin, we have chosen a non-violent action, in exercise of our First Amendment right to free speech, to expose neo-slavery and inhumane practices throughout the prisons and entire criminal justice system.

As vanguards of the current Prisoners’ Human Rights Movement, we, too, are charged with taking a stand. The Campaign to Redistribute the Pain in 2018 is a call to action for those serious about freedom, justice and economic equality.

For those of us down here in the Deep South in the Free Alabama Movement, things have been no different. Over four years in, and not a single person from any other race, ethnicity or nationality, EXCEPT Black men, has spent a single day – not one – in a solitary confinement cell for exercising rights supposedly secured by the U.S. Constitution. White supremacy is established in the law, just like they said it would be.
But this only tells half of the story …

The ADOC has resorted to using the solitary confinement units at the four maximum security units to stifle the spread of the movement: St. Clair CF [Correctional Facility], W.E. Donaldson CF, Holman CF and Limestone CF. Of the 12 wardens at these four prisons – each facility has three – 11 are Black and only one is white. Also, Donaldson was selected as the “breaking” plantation, where, within the last approximately 24 months, over 80 men have been transferred to this prison and were subsequently beaten, sexually assaulted, and confined to solitary. Fewer than 12 officers carried out almost all of these attacks, and most of these officers were Black: Snelson, Edmonson, Gunn, Gadson, Binder, Phillips, Speak, Turnbull, and Cunningham.

Prior to being transferred to Limestone on Aug. 2, 2017, I had spent the preceding two years at Donaldson, most of it in solitary confinement. When I was let out briefly in 2016, I learned that one of the Black wardens (Angela Miree) and one of the Black captains (Baldwin) had solicited a “hit” on me in July 2016. After their hit was thwarted, the next month I was placed back into solitary confinement.

Immediately above the heads of these Black administrations are two Black regional coordinators, Cheryl Price and Gwendolyn Mosley, who, in turn, have a Black supervisor in Associate Commissioner Grantt Culliver. Incidentally, it is at this level where the decisions are made as to who gets sent to the new statewide SHU at Limestone or the “breaking” plantation at Donaldson CF.

Just to give you an idea of how these Black professionals are making decisions on who is subjected to the “nigger boxes” (as they were called on the slave plantations), here are some figures. In August 2017, the population at Donaldson CF was approximately 1,800, including 1,418 Black, 356 White and five Mexican prisoners; numbers are approximate.

Over 87 percent of all men in segregation at Donaldson are Black. The statewide lockup unit at Limestone is 90 percent Black. St. Clair and Holman seg units are over 83 percent Black. Extreme oppression has always been reserved for Black people in the South – and no less elsewhere.

Of the several beatings that took place at Donaldson prison, one stands about above the rest. When the transfer from Holman took place after the warden (Carter Davenport) was stabbed, five men were sent to Donaldson. One by one as they exited the van they were led into a room in handcuffs, belly chains and shackles, where they were all then beaten one by one. Three or four of them were sexually assaulted. Every one of them identified Officer Justin Gunn (Black) as the leader of the assault.

This incident was so savage that it drew Associate Commissioner Culliver and Regional Coordinator Price to the prison. Yet, nothing was done. Subsequent to this, Officer Gunn beat, sexually assaulted and hospitalized Quintavius Clark. He has since assaulted Brandon (“Bird”), and kicked a man in the mouth while handcuffed, in addition to getting knocked out in a fistfight. When I left the prison in August 2017, he was assigned to tower duty due to his latest assault.

These attacks are being carried out by Black correctional officers and then covered up by Black administrators. The very flag that symbolized oppression for Black people is the exact same flag that these officers salute and pledge allegiance to, which is the same flag that John B. Knox said gives them the power “to establish white supremacy in this state.”

One by one as they exited the van they were led into a room in handcuffs, belly chains and shackles, where they were all then beaten one by one. Three or four of them were sexually assaulted. Every one of them identified Officer Justin Gunn (Black) as the leader of the assault.

Imagine that, the same niggers that couldn’t get a job with the ADOC 50 years ago until Martin, Malcolm, Elijah, BPP and others stood up to Jim Crow are now leading the charge to suppress a non-violent movement against, as Michelle Alexander calls it, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration.”

We’ve seen it all before, though. Right?! Didn’t we see Black folks denounce MLK in Alabama? When Ferguson erupted, didn’t the state send for Al and Jesse? When that didn’t work, they called in “their” clergy and preachers.

In Alabama, they had ol’ Chaplain Browder bringing chicken and watermelon. Hell, Ferguson went so far as to install a coon police chief. With all the Black professionals in ADOC in Montgomery, can’t we anticipate what’s coming next in their efforts to stop our movement? Mississippi’s Black DOC commissioner just went to prison for human trafficking of Black bodies.

Our Elder Richard “Mafundi” Lake used to always express to us the importance of studying our history in our struggle. Baba Mafundi used to say, “Black people can find the answers to all of our problems by studying Black History.”

Then he would say, “See, you got to organize the people.” That precept, ORGANIZE, is one of the pillars of civilization that our Ancestors left to us. They organized! every facet of their life. Indeed, the process of life itself, and all things in the universe, is organized. And if we are to achieve our goal within this movement, then we, too, must organize – because the opposition, as I pointed out in Part IV of this series, is already organized.

We have 51 states before us. Each state has its own sovereign authority. But in order to create a United States, all 51 states agreed to give up some of their rights for the benefit of the whole body. This is how the federal government was created. The fed has limited authority over federal issues, and the states retained authority over all remaining issues specific to each state.

For example, each state has its own state tax rates, while every citizen has to pay the same federal tax rate based on income. But there are not 51 different currencies. Instead, there is only one U.S. dollar that all 51 states use. This is so because all 51 states agreed to allow the federal government to establish a single currency (see Article 1, Section 8, U.S. Constitution). This structure is pretty much how our National Prisoners’ Rights Movement will have to be organized.

Each of us in our individual states has certain issues that are specific to our individual state that we will need to pursue on a state-by-state basis. These issues will have to be decided by the people in those states. This is the sovereign characteristic of our structure.

At the same time, though, we will need to form and consolidate a national body to create national plans, coordinate nationwide events, and maximize our impact on a national scale concerning those issues that we all share in common.

To date, we have already conducted one nationwide direct action campaign – the Sept. 9, 2016, 45th Anniversary Attica Rebellion Non-Violent Demonstration. Our outside supporters also just conducted the August 2017 Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March. These efforts, though successful, illustrate why it is important for us to organize these energized bodies.

Anyone familiar with college basketball probably associates the term “one-and-done” with the Kentucky Wildcats. They have plenty of talent, all of the potential, but very little to show for it. We can’t forget a movement based on “one-and-done” either. This is where a national organizational structure comes in. As of right now, I am aware of two proposed constructs, although I have not seen any specific details as to how either would be constructed or operated. One appears to be the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights Coalition, and the other appears to be Prison Lives Matter.

From my perspective, the names that we choose are far less important than making sure that we implement the proper type of structure that creates BOTH inside organizations and outside organizations. As far as how that would look and need to be organized, picture a triangle: At the top is the national organizing body, and the other two points represent outside organizations, such as the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights Coalition –Michigan, and those inside, such as the Free Michigan Movement.

STEP 1. The first step in this process would be creating a steering committee to help draw up an outline for establishing a board of directors. These members would be tasked with soliciting candidates to fill a nine (or so) member board composed of six individuals who are incarcerated and three who are in society. Once the nominees are in, an election would be held to select a Board of Executives and Directors.

STEP 2. Establish charters for inside and outside organizations. For example, the incarcerated men and women in Michigan would establish their Free Michigan Movement charter, which would serve as an umbrella for all factions operating inside MDOC.

All of the outside organizations operating in Michigan who are committed to supporting the directives of the FMM would then organize under the outside support charter, Millions for Prisoners Human Rights Coalition – Michigan.

STEP 3. Next, of course, would be the drafting of the bylaws. Within these documents would be an outline of the specific functions, purposes and duties, etc., of everyone associated with the national organization. Only national policies will be coordinated on this level, such as:

Nationwide hunger strikes

Nationwide boycott campaigns and storefront protests of companies like McDonalds, Starbucks etc., that profit from prison labor. We would select only one company at a time and organize nationwide demonstrations.

Nationwide protests at prisons, DOC headquarters, state capitals etc.

Nationwide workstrike dates

Nationwide boycotts of collect phone calls, canteens, incentive packages, visitations etc. in the mold of the Campaign to Redistribute the Pain 2018.

Obviously, this is just a proposal. I am sure there are others out there with ideas on how we should proceed too. We need to bring these ideas together to form a plan of action.

Additionally, there are many organizations in society out there that are kicking up dust but don’t have a platform for connecting to our struggle behind these walls. In fact, many of them are fighting issues that they may not even realize are connected to the 13th Amendment and slavery. Those of us on the inside have to build those bridges through our outside support networks that will connect our people together.

To establish that point:

I recently read up on the events concerning the police killing of Anthony Lamar Smith in St. Louis, Missouri. What stood out the most was how the activists there have completely changed their strategy to now target the economic structure of the city as opposed to just marching and protests. They targeted the malls, entertainment centers, restaurants and even a concert venue. All of their target areas were forced to close. This impacted the pockets of city finances, supporters of murderous police etc., and helped to “Redistribute the Pain.”

As one activist said, “Last time in Ferguson, we were very emotional and just protestors, but we are now activists.” We have to be activists also behind these walls before our pain will be felt.

Ultimately, though, as powerful as their demonstration was, they left plenty of money on the table. Under the organizational structure that I am proposing, those of us on the inside could have been added to that force on the outside. Here’s how:

In Alabama, we just received the winter food package list from Access SecurePak. Where is the company headquartered? 10880 Linpage Place, St. Louis, MO 63132. Most likely, this same company has contracts throughout Missouri’s DOC and probably even city or county jails. A boycott of this business that supports and finances mass incarceration and prison slavery most definitely should have been included. Additionally, and at the same time, work strikes should have been organized at the jails and prisons.

Missouri is no different from Alabama, California, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, or any other state. Prison labor is active and a revenue generator on all layers of the economy in Missouri. In fact, the very streets, roads, and sidewalks that the activists were moving on are probably cleaned in some part by prison slave labor. Some of the stores may even have products made in a prison. Most definitely, the police cruisers that are dispatched to the scenes where our activists are congregated are maintained and repaired by people in jail or prison.

Millions of dollars in labor costs, lost production and lost sales can be effectively mounted onto the backs of cities in an instant, if only we can connect our movement together.

Under the organizational structure that I am proposing here, this unification would merge seamlessly, and the fit would be perfect because we are already aligned strategically on the use of direct action economic activity. For example, the outside organization, Millions for Prisoners Human Rights Coalition – Missouri would be the eyes and ears on the ground that would be informed when a trial like Mr. Smith’s was taking place.

They would join forces with other outside activists and groups, letting them know of our presence on the inside, say, Free Missouri Movement. Throughout the process of trial, planning and coordination would take place, starting at the local city and county jails then moving to the prisons. Then, when the unlawful verdict is reached, the plan of action would go into effect – boycotts and work strikes on the inside, with boycotts on the outside.

Millions of dollars in labor costs, lost production and lost sales can be effectively mounted onto the backs of cities in an instant, if only we can connect our movement together.

This, of course, would be an example of an individual state charter exercising autonomy in a local issue. These plans would also be relayed up to the national board, who would then send advisories out to all other branches nationwide in the event that other branches wanted to join in the same capacity.

It could be a hunger strike, a boycott in the mold of the Campaign to Redistribute the Pain 2018, a work strike or whatever. (Them brothers up in Michigan at Marquette, Kinross, Cotton and Chippewa appear to be ready at the drop of a dime.) The main thing is, we have to get organized, then get connected to the broader struggle in society.

Plain and simple, we have to get connected because police killings and social justice are each a part of prison slavery and mass incarceration. How? What if Mike Brown had lived? Where would he be today? In prison! When Sandra Bland asserted her rights as a human being, where did she end up dying? In jail!

If Anthony Lamar Smith had lived, what would have happened? I’ll tell you what: He would have been arrested, charged with drug possession and distribution, and taken to jail. Walter Scott was running from the slave catcher because he didn’t want to be returned where? Jail!

Mike Brown, of course, would have probably been charged with assault, attempted murder, jaywalking and who knows what else. Since the bail bond system was so thoroughly exposed after his death, we know that his bail would have been near $500,000. And, we already know that the grand jury would have believed Officer Wilson, so Mike Brown would have been indicted. According to Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” Mike Brown would have pled guilty, just like 95 percent of all defendants do.

Thus, Mike Brown would be in the county jail, waiting to go to MDOC, where he would become Brown, M, D819642, B/M. Life.

Plain and simple, we have to get connected because police killings and social justice are each a part of prison slavery and mass incarceration.

If Sandra Bland had lived, her situation would be even worse. In recent years, rapes, sodomy and sexual violence have been reported in women’s prisons from Alabama, Florida, California and Mississippi, just to name a few. In January 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded an investigation by finding that the women at Julia Tutwiler Prison have been raped, sexually abused and more for a period of almost 20 consecutive years – up to 2014 when the investigative report was issued. And it continues …

A more glaring fact missing from these reports is that many of these women gave birth to children, while other women had abortions. Some of these women were forced to have abortions, while other women who refused abortions, by sometimes married officers, had their fetuses beaten from their bodies. I was once given an eyewitness account by a woman formerly incarcerated at Tutwiler, who recounted seeing a mentally ill young woman beaten until she miscarried by an officer who had been raping her.

There are many Sandra Blands who lived. Yet, where are their protests? Do their Black Lives Matter while they are still alive, or must they die first? What about the children who were born to these prison slave plantation rapes? First and foremost, the Department of Justice report did not even tell us how many children were born – but the ADOC knows how many deliveries were made.

Where are these children whose mothers have life sentences with no family members capable of receiving such child, and the father is a correctional officer, married with a family, and no incentive to tell his wife and family that he has a child at work on a slave plantation? Haven’t we experienced this narrative already? Don’t these Black Lives Matter, too?

When we, FAM’s blogtalk radio show The People’s Platform and Sign of the Times with Queen T, hosted the Scott Sisters from Mississippi upon their release from Mississippi’s slave yards, they told us of women who had given birth to as many as four to five children while incarcerated for over 20 years. In society, we see report after report of women being raped by police officers. Aren’t these issues combined? Then we aren’t the movements combined? If you are wondering why not, #MeToo.

There are over 219,000 Sandra Blands incarcerated today, with the number growing each day. Many of them will be raped, sexually assaulted, impregnated and give birth to a Mike Brown Jr. or Sandra Bland Jr. real soon.

We cannot only accept Black Lives Matter as a slogan. The burden lies with us behind these walls to organize our movement in a way that forces society to recognize our humanity and bear witness to our sacrifices. Our Black Lives Matter only when our Black Lives Matter to us, first.

The year 2018 is important for many reasons. In retrospect, the Campaign to Redistribute the Pain 2018 is a call to sacrifice. One can look at a canteen list and quickly see that the offering of snacks, candy, potato chips etc. are the menu for a child. We have to sacrifice cookies, “wraps” and “spreads” if we want to sit at a table and eat as men and women.

We can’t allow our mothers, wives, fathers, brothers, lovers and friends to continue to feed the pig and fall further into their own mode of institutionalization. Some of our loved ones feel guilt or partly responsible for our incarceration, and too many of us play on those feelings for a green dot, money on the books etc.

We are now at a time when we must advance beyond the one-and-done concept of struggle. Since we are enslaved and incarcerated every day, we must also struggle every day. Malcolm X said that if we aren’t willing to die for our freedom then we may as well remove the word from our vocabulary. At a bare minimum, the base of our sacrifice should be a bi-monthly boycott of chips and soups, phone calls and visits.

On Dec. 6, 1865, the USA decreed in the 13th Amendment that we are slaves and property of the government. On Dec. 6, 2017, we have to implement the next phase in our plan to dismantle the institution of slavery by starting the process of defunding it. Slavery is already morally bankrupt. Now we must financially bankrupt it.

In closing, I want to parlay off the words of our Warrior Queen Sister Dr. Ava Muhammad of the Nation of Islam, who has lectured on the financial industry of mass incarceration and prison slavery. In boycotting, we have to redirect our finances towards a plan that will give us financial independence. Through social media platforms, we now have the power to create our own revenue streams. Behind these walls, we have craftsmen, writers, poets, artists and many other talents.

With a national organization, we can create our own online storefront where we can sell our own products, which will allow us to finance our own movement. Then, during the bi-monthly boycotts of the Campaign to Redistribute the Pain 2018, we can send a portion of the funds that we withhold from the prison industry as donations to our national organization.

On Dec. 6, 1865, the USA decreed in the 13th Amendment that we are slaves and property of the government. On Dec. 6, 2017, we have to implement the next phase in our plan to dismantle the institution of slavery by starting the process of defunding it. Slavery is already morally bankrupt. Now we must financially bankrupt it.

Looking back on history as Elder Mafundi has told us to, Ancestor Marcus Garvey has already shown us what we can do when we pool our resources. We have to build our own independent power base because ain’t no one coming to save us. We must self save.

In February 2018, April 2018, June 2018, August 2018, October 2018 and December 2018, we must work towards building our national entity, while also refining local coalitions and networks. We can never defeat an opponent that we fund with all of our financial resources and labor, especially when we don’t have anything close to our own entity that we fund to help us wage our fight.

Without that organized body, we are just fussing and calling it fighting. Until we organize, we are nothing more than just disgruntled employees – the thousands of men that our great Ancestor Harriet Tubman said she could have freed if only we knew that we were slaves …

Bennu Hannibal Ra Sun

Free Alabama Movement

Note: I do not know Colin Kaepernick personally. The info that I wrote about his personal history was gleaned from info that I have read. Any inaccuracies should be attributed to me, not Bay View. My apologies in advance for any mistakes, for it is never my intent to ever mislead the people.

After launching its Movement in 2014 with the first coordinated work stoppages and shutdowns in Alabama prison history, FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT, building on its success with subsequent strikes, issued a call in 2015 with its document titled F.A.M.’s 6-Step Plan of Action 2015 (see our WordPress blog) for the first coordinated Nationwide Prison Work Strike in US History. This plan, along with its publication, “Let The Crops Rot In The Field” were then circulated throughout F.A.M.’s nascent network of supporters for its National Freedom Movement Against Mass Incarceration and Prison Slavery.

With assistance from other organizations and people, including Bro. Lorenzo “Kim’Boa” and Sis. JoNina Irvin of the Ida B. Wells Coalition against Police Brutality, Brianna Peril and David Boehnke of IWW/IWOC, Annabelle Parker, Mary Ratcliff of San Francisco Bay View, FREE MISSISSIPPI MOVEMENT and FREE MISSISSIPPI MOVEMENT UNITED, Queen T of SignofTheTimes/ FREE OHIO MOVEMENT, Anthony Robinson/The New Underground Railroad, Mississippi Southern Belles, Anarchist Black Cross and many others, F.A.M. began organizing, leading and directing this National call.

Today, September 9, 2016, at appx 12:01 am, FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT has kicked off the Sept. 9, Nationwide Prison Workstrikes, Boycotts and International Protests from Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama, in solidarity with confirmed strikes underway in Florida, South Carolina, and Texas.

F.A.M. has reiterated its call, first made January 1, 2014 with its first coordinated Workstrikes, for Non-Violence and Peaceful demonstrations both inside and outside of prisons as the solution to the exploitation and other forms of abuse that take place in Americas prisons, including forced prison slavery.

F.A.M. has often stated that the solution to mass incarceration and prison slavery must be lead by the men, women and children who are incarcerated and who are contributing to prison slavery and our own oppression by continuing to produce goods and provide services and purchase products that generate billions of dollars in revenue each year to support prison slavery. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution continues to permit slavery to exist in this country “as Punishment of crime, whereof the person has been duly convicted,” and the institution and enterprise of slavery was legally transferred to the State government’s prison systems.

These Non-Violent and Peaceful protests are designed to expose the nefarious economic motives of individuals, State and Federal government, and corporations like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Starbucks, John Deer, the ALEC corporation, Victoria Secret, US military, Whole Foods, Wal Mart, Keefe, AT&T and Verizon call centers, and many others behind laws like mandatory minimums, three strikes laws, juvenile prosecution as adults, etc. that are used to incarcerate people under oppressive, inhumane conditions for extended periods of time, solely for the use of free prison labor for profit — yet in the name of crime and punishment.

F.A.M. has issued a “FREEDOM BILL“, which contains the demands that they are imposing upon the Alabama legislature to correct the problem of mass incarceration and prison slavery in Alabama.

FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT
To assist FAM and their National Freedom Movement and to support the people on the inside who are making these sacrifices, please donate to famfamalabama@Gmail.com today.

Ever since solitary confinement came into existence, it has been used as a tool of repression.

While it is justified by corrections officials as necessary to protect prisoners and guards from violent super predators, all too often it is imposed on individuals, particularly prisoners of color, who threaten prison administrations in an altogether different way. Consistently, jailhouse lawyers and jailhouse doctors, who administer to the needs of their fellow prisoners behind bars, are placed in solitary confinement. They are joined by political prisoners from various civil rights and independence movements.”

And that’s exactly what Alabama is doing with their Solitary Confinement- using it to repress and torture anyone that speaks the words FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT. For exposing Alabama’s on going Human Rights violation James Pleasant, Robert Earl Council and Melvin Ray were targeted, singled out and labeled “threats to the security of the ADOC,” then placed in Solitary Confinement with indeterminate sentences.

At the time that these men made their decisions to address the ongoing Civil and Human Rights violations that were apparent in the ADOC, the prisons were historically overcrowded, there was a wave of violence brewing statewide throughout the prisons, living conditions were deplorable, food and healthcare we severely substandard and causing many illnesses and death, and the prison administrators, commissioners, and wardens were all refusing to respond and address the complaints.

Then, on January 1, 2014, under the banner of FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT, a Non-Violent and Peaceful Protest for Civil and Human Rights was launched at Holman Prison, as over 1000 men went on shutdown [work stoppage].

Three days later, on January 4, 2014, 1300 more at St. Clair Prison joined in. These demonstrations remained peaceful the entire time. ADOC officials acknowledged to the AP that these demonstrations were peaceful:

“On Saturday, Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett acknowledged to the Associated Press that since New Year’s Day, at least some prisoners have refused to work in kitchen and laundry areas and perform other jobs.”

“Corbett told the AP that the protests at the St. Clair and Holman Correctional facilities have been peaceful . . .”

Unfortunately for approximately 8 families with loved ones in ADOC, these peaceful ended too soon, because over the course of the next 14 months after the demonstrations ended, with no intervention or improvements from ADOC, approximately 8 men were killed. and hundreds more have been stabbed.

* Our beloved Lil Mook, Marquette Cummins, who came to prison at 17 lost his physical life on January 6, 2015, on the second day of the shutdown. His Spirit lives on and serves as a reminder to us all that we must bring these prisons to an end because they ccontinue to take life, yet give nothing of value in return.

Also, at the same time that these peaceful demonstrations were concluding, the US DOJ issued a report detail the two-decades long horror story that emanated from Julia Tutwiler Women’s Prison in Wetumpka, AL.

According to the report, which was completed after a long investigation, the women confined at Tutwiler had been raped, impregnated, sexually assaulted, abused and exploited for sex for over two decades. Children were born. Children were aborted. Women were beaten and raped, and it was estimated that at least 1/3 of the ENTIRE corrections staff had been involved in the abuses. In that time, less than 10 officers has been prosecuted, and the most time handed out was 6 months, with one officer getting 5 days.

Now, approximately 14 months later, and exclusively for organizing a “non-violent and peaceful protest”, these three men, Robert Earl Council, James Pleasant, and Melvin Ray, have all been labelled a “security threat”. In addition, F.A.M. and the family members and supporters, including those who had lost a loved one to the violence and who were supporting F.A.M.’s call for an end to the violence, were also labelled as a security threat.

Under ADOC rules, violence such as riots, assaults, destroying property, etc., all fall under security threats. In fact, under ADOC rules, a person who commits a murder while in ADOC custody must serve 30 [months] in solitary confinement. Yet, the people who are trying to stop this avoidable and senseless loss of life are subjected to indefinitely periods of solitary confinement. In other words, if any member of the F.A.M. 3 were guilty of committing a murder, they could look to be released from segregation in a definite period of time of 30 months, but for engaging in peaceful protests against the conditions that lead to violence and murder, these men became “security threats.”

Not a single ADOC rules prohibits “Non-Violent and Peaceful” demonstrations. In fact, the right to peacefully assemble is guaranteed and protected by the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In response to the protests, in light of the conditions that were exposed by F.A.M. on social media like YouTube and Facebook, Gov. Bentley and Sen. Cam Ward created a Prison Reform Task Force and have since verified EVERY issue that F.A.M. complained of.

Additionally, EJI followed the demonstrations by filing a lawsuit about the violence at St. Clair, were hundreds of people have been assaulted, including one person by the warden, Carter Davenport, who has since been reassigned to another prison (he was a Captain at Tutwiler during the rapes, etc.). The SPLC has filed a lawsuit on the healthcare against ADOC after the demonstrations.

When Gov. Bentley, Sen. Cam Ward, Chief Justice Roy Moore, Attn General Luther Strange and other state officials acknowledged the problems within ADOC that were exposed by F.A.M., THEY were not labelled security threats. When al.com confirmed that Warden Davenport was the root of the violence at St. Clair they were not labelled a security threat. When the US DOJ reported on the abuses at Tutwiler, they were not labelled a security threat.

But when the people who live in the violence, the very people who are forced to live in the inhumane and uncivil conditions complain about the violence with -non-violent and peaceful protests”, they are labelled a threat to security, even where the violence levels, understaffing, and decrepit conditions show that there is NO SECURITY TO THREATEN, and certainly none to threaten with “Non-Violent and Peaceful Protests!!!

Join F.A.M. as we demand answers from ADOC and other Alabama officials about why these men are being punished for complaining about these ongoing civil and human rights violations.

After over a year of research, meetings, studies and other expenditures of tax-payer funds, the Council of State Government (CSG) and the Alabama Prison Reform Task Force (PRTF) have given the Alabama people Senate Bill 67 as the solution to the issues in Alabama prisons and the state’s criminal justice system.

The PRTF and CSG got off to a controversial start when it was revealed that of the 25-member task force, not a single African American male would be part of the decision making process, deliberations, or considerations of the group. Being a black man, the hypocrisy of this struck me from the beginning: Black men, who make up approximately 13% of the total state population, are approximately 60% of the total prison population.

Note** The U.S. GOVERNMENT Bureau of Statistics, shows that 70%% of all crimes ccommitted in the U.S. are ccommitted by white people.

So, this means that the families and communities most affected by the prison and judicial system are black. Yet, in a way that only a state like Alabama can explain, not a single black man was invited to discuss what solutions would be best to fix a problem that has been created by people who look just like the CSG committee and the PRTF — predominately white men.

Alabama prisons currently hold over 30,000 people in space designed to hold less than 14,000 people. Of this 30,000, approximately 80% of ALL people who enter into ADOC are functionally illiterate — or worse. Most of these people are young, poor, unskilled, and addicted to some type of drug. The problems made manifest in such a setting are predictable and expected.

Overcrowding serves to breed problems:

MALNUTRITION

First, the budget is fixed to serve just over 13,000 , while the prisons hold 30,000-plus. With low budgets, the cheap, undercooked food being served lacks nutrition, inadequate portions, and consists mainly of processed foods. In a word, the people in Alabama prisons are malnourished.

UNSANITARY WATER SUPPLY

The water system in Alabama’s prisons was designed to filter and serve less than 14,000 people. So imagine what happens when this system is overburdened with 30,000-plus people. First, the water is not properly filtered before it enters back into the prisons. This contaminated drinking water is the major contributor to most ailments in Alabama prisons.

Then, you have people literally stacked on top of each other. This breeds other problems: frustration, depression, and mental illnesses.

Untreated mental, emotional, psychological and addiction issues lead invariably to violent settings. St. Clair prison is Exhibit A in this crisis.

Death and disease are so widespread due to inadequate resources for meaningful healthcare.

Quarantines for outbreaks of TB, scabies, and Staph (and now food-food-poisoning) are now common protocols.

Sometimes, staff, family members who visit, lawyers, and people in the prisons aren’t even informed of outbreaks due to delays in detection.

Then, you have the actual living conditions. Filth is everywhere. The water supply is contaminated. Showers are almost always cold due to overuse because the water system wasn’t designed for so many people. Cleanliness is a constant issue. Mold, mildew, rats, roaches, spiders, snakes, and bugs are in every crack and crevice. Repairs to all areas of the infrastructure are needed, with some prisons being over 40 years old.

Health, food, and fire inspectors are rarely seen. When they are present, they are not doing their jobs of accurately reporting on the wholesale violations that are so prevalent.

However, when one examines SB 67, one doesn’t see a single one of these issues being addressed.
The human costs and abuse associated with reform needs are being totally ignored because no one cares about the inhumane, uncivilized treatment of men and women in prison. And certainly not those in Alabama’s prisons, who are majority black and all poor.

In fact, the PRTF is calling for 2,000 more beds to be added to existing facilities. Senator Cam Ward has stated that the goal is to reduce overcrowding to 140%, which courts have said is acceptable. But the question to ask is: why can a state Senator openly say that his goal is to violate a health/fire code for maximum occupancy, and feel no consequences whatsoever? Where is the Fire Marshall to remind Senator Ward that fire codes are to be strictly complied with, including occupancy rates? A Fire Marshall will close down a night club, a basketball arena, or a restaurant for being over-capacity, but here we see that the law doesn’t apply to the prisons.

Instead, it is the *goal* of Alabama officials to have a illegal, overcrowded prison system and the Fire Marshall says nothing.

SB 67 doesn’t address any of these issues. Sen. Cam Ward and his cabal have sat down as if they were doctors, to solve a problem without asking their patients a single question about what is wrong or what could be done to fix the problems. To my knowledge, the PRTF did not enter into a single prison and ask the occupants about our issues, where the problems areas are, or what solutions we see as being needed. Nor did they enter into a single black community, which is where mass incarceration has had it worst effects, to see how these issues should be addressed. White men in Alabama are not accustomed to consulting Black men on problems, even those problems created by white men that disproportionately affect black men, like mass incarceration.

Some Alabama prisons house in excess of 1,000 people – most of whom are illiterate – and don’t even provide a GED program, let alone sustainable job skills programs. There are currently no gang-intervention programs, no community volunteer programs at the community custody facilities, no Life Skills programs – and SB 67 is not calling for any of them. These are programs that most Black community leaders, religious leaders, mothers, and fathers will tell you that our communities need from the ADOC while they are holding these men for decades at a time. Yet, Senator Ward doesn’t see a need for Black voices on the PRTF or the all-white CSG.

In Alabama, where uneducated people fill the system, education is neither encouraged nor mandated. A person with a 10-year Sentence with no GED, skill or trade, and who has a known drug or alcohol addiction, does not have to attend school, learn a skill or trade, participate in any program — and can still earn Incentive Good Time. How can a person earn “good time” if they are not actively addressing their shortcomings and issues that lead them to prison in the first place?

As for the Alabama Parole Board, one has to wonder just how much longer the charade can go on. In 2015, they still don’t allow a person to attend their own hearing. We can watch Satellite television, use Tango and Skype, but the Parole Board still can’t find a way to hear from the person (not a file) going up for parole.

The hearing itself is a show of power and disrespect. The parolee gets all of two speakers, who each get 5 minutes to speak. A person who has made 20 years of change has to have someone else try to communicate that change in 2 five-minute exchanges. Then, the victim of the crime gets to speak.

They get unlimited speakers, for an unlimited time. If a victim can’t attend, no problem. Hired speakers (called Victim’s Advocates), on tax-payer dime, can speak. Again, they are not restricted by any time constraints, whatsoever.

The facts of the crime are already known. A parole hearing is supposed to be about what changes the person has made to show that they have learned from their mistake, improved themselves, and are now prepared for another chance at society.

The parole board sits on the file for decades, and never even sets out a curriculum for what they expect to see from a person vying for parole. It is all a tax-payer funded dog-and-pony show scam.

SB 67 is nothing more than an expansion of the scheme.

SB 67 is joining the nationwide, elaborate money grab operation (that once again is being funded by tax dollars) fueled by discriminatory practices in arrest, conviction, sentencing, and parole, and in the end, financial exploitation. Multiple “private prison” companies, “non-profit” organizations and community corrections companies will rely on more convictions, parole and probation violations, alternative sentencing, and the like to tax, fine, fee, and charge poor people til death.

So-called “regional” jails will be built for private jail operators to receive even more tax payer funds.
Work release-style facilities will be created – where SB 67 authorizes up to 65% of gross earning to be deducted from the paychecks of already poor people – to go into the pockets of the “community corrections” companies that will charge to serve as collection agencies.

The kickbacks from these contracts will be in the form of campaign contribution to people like Senator Cam Ward.

The greatest benefit from SB 67 will continue to be the massive amounts of free labor that is being exploited from the men and women in Alabama prisons. These prison industries, funded by tax dollars, are generating billions of dollars in revenue. However, no one knows how large these industries are, or where all of the products or money from these industries are going.

For example, Alabama Correctional Industries runs a $25 million-dollar chemical plant at St. Clair prison. Where is that money going to? ADOC has a cattle ranch and a fish pond. Where is all beef and fish going? It certainly isn’t making its way to the kitchens in the prisons. Elmore runs the largest recycling plant in the State. Where are the proceeds?

And in spite of all of this free labor, no credit is deducted from the sentence. No deductions from the fines or court costs that a person may have. No deductions for child support that continues to accrue, even though the father or mother is working 8, 10, 12 hours days for free or pennies in wages.

In addition to this, a person who is forced to work for free every day also must pay a medical co-pay when they get sick. Where is this money supposed to come from? That is where the exploitation of our families comes in, because when they do send us money, the State deducts their “charges” first and we get what’s left.

SB 67 is nothing more than a continuation of these practices, only now the exploitation is moving away from the prisons and closer to the communities.

Be it ENACTED A LAW that by January 1, 2018, Alabama’s Department of
Corrections (ADOC) will reduce its prison population down to its designed
capacity of app. 13,500; Alabama’s Department of Corrections currently has
over 29,000 people incarcerated in a system designed to hold less than the
14,000, making this State’s prison population occupancy rate of approx.
200% the *highest* in the nation. As recent as 2012, California’s prisons
were declared unconstitutional by U.S. federal court for exceeding 160% of
its occupancy rate.

Due to the ill effects of mass incarceration and prison slavery in Alabama,
including having the third highest incarcerate rate in the world of 650 per
100,000 residents. Alabama’s ADOC is now running a multi-billion dollar
free/cheap labor corporation by targeting black andb other poor citizens
for incarceration, while committing other civil and human rights abuses in
the living conditions, sentences imposed, release, and excessive fines,
costs, and other exploitive practices that are all beyond recourses of law.

For these obvious reasons, the Commissioner of ADOC is ordered by this law
to release no less than 400 persons per month (4800) per year, beginning
January 31, 2015, until the prison population is reduced to its current
design capacity

Section 2

Be it also Enacted that the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of
Corrections shall not allow the prison population of the ADOC to exceed
10,000 by the year 2020, where several Alabama prisons are over 40 years
old and constituted waste and serve no purpose towards education or
rehabilitation, and that if the Commissioner shall violate this decree,
anyone incarcerated in ADOC subject to such overcrowding shall have to
right to sue the Commissioner in any State court and receive as
compensation $1,000 from the ADOC budget for each day that this law is
violated:

Section 3

Be it also enacted that a moratorium shall issue upon the passage of this
Bill stating that no person convicted of a crime in the state of Alabama
shall be transferred to any out of state facility. In order to address the
ill effects of mass incarceration for private financial motives, no other
public or private prisons either within or without of the State of Alabama
shall be built to house any person convicted of any crime within the State
of Alabama. However, if an old prison currently existing within the State
of Alabama is closed, condemned or shutdown, a new prison may be built but
shall not exceed 110% of the original design capacity of the prison that
such new prison shall replace;

PART 2 Section 1

Be it also ENACTED that upon the passage of this Bill, the Commissioner of
the ADOC shall implement a program within the ADOC titled the Education,
Rehabilitation, and Re-Entry Preparedness program, and the Commissioner
shall designate all bed-space with the ADOC for this program. Such program
shall be made available to all people incarcerated within the ADOC,
irrespective of sentence, including sentences of Life Without Parole and
Death, which sentences shall be abolished in the state of Alabama.

Once enrolled into the E.R.Re-E.P. program, a new social/psychological
evaluation will be performed, along with a case review of the person’s
convicted offense. Thereafter, an Education/Rehabilitation curriculum will
be made based on the individual needs of the person being evaluated, and a
base parole date will be set within 30 days.

CAPITAL MURDER CASES:

Capital Murder cases will be classified into two (2) Levels:

LEVEL 1 CAPITAL MURDER CASES

Level 1: Level one capital murder cases will consist of those people
currently convicted of a capital offense and sentenced to Death or LWOP
with two or more victims, murder of a police officer, or a child. These
people, though eligible for parole, will require Special Review before
parole is granted. Review will be by the Governor, a classification
specialist and psychologist within the ADOC, and members of a Citizens
Committee selected by Free Alabama Movement Executive Committee.

This person, after serving 15 to 20 years, and upon completion of the
Education/Rehabilitation program, will then be eligible for review to be
placed in the Re-Entry Preparedness phase of the program. Upon successful
completion of the Re-Entry preparedness phase, this person would then be
eligible for parole upon Special Review.

LEVEL 2 CAPITAL MURDER CASES

Level 2 offenders consist of those people convicted of a capital offense
with one victim and who are currently sentenced to LWOP. These people will
not require special review and will become parole eligible upon successful
completion of the curriculum and after serving the full base minimum.

Those Level 2 offenders convicted under sections §13A-5-40 (16,17,18), Code
1975, after serving 10 to 12 years, and all the other Level 2 Capital
Murder offenders, after serving 10 to 15 years, and upon completion of the
EDUCATION/REHABILITATION/RE-ENTRY Curriculum, shall then be paroled back to
society.

All other persons convicted of murder under 13A-6-2 and sentenced to 15 to
99 to life, will received a base parole range of 7-10 years upon completion
of their initial review, and will be paroled upon completion of the
EDUCATION/REHABILITATION/RE-ENTRY PREPAREDNESS Program.

Any person convicted for murder and sentenced to LWOP pursuant to the
Habitual Felony Offender Act, will start with a base parole minimum of 10
years, with enhancements available for each valid prior felony conviction
(a prior felony used to enhance but later ruled invalid will be
retroactively deducted from the parole date).

PRIOR FELONY CONVICTIONS:

CAPITAL OFFENSES AND MURDER:

Any non-violent felony conviction (non-violent being defined as no serious
physical injury suffered by the victim), can increase a parole base by 1
year per prior conviction, with a maximum of 3 years.

Any violent prior felony conviction (where the victim suffered serious
physical injury) can increase a parole base by two years each, with a
maximum increase of 6 years. But in no event may a Level 2 offender also
convicted as a habitual offender be required to serve more than 21 years
upon successful completion of the program.

And no person convicted of murder and also as a habitual offender shall be
required to serve more than 16 years upon successful completion of the
curriculum.

Note*

Any one or more prior violent felony offenses found by a jury to contain
special circumstances (for example, a hate crime, a human rights
violations, shooting a victim 3 or more times, crime against a child), can
increase a parole base by a maximum of 5 years total. But in no event may a
Level 2 offender be required to serve more than 21 years upon successful
completion of the program, and in no event may a non-capital, non- habitual
offender, murder defendant serve more than 15 years before parole, and no
more than 20 years for a person convicted as a habitual offender upon
successful completion of the curriculum.

Note*

Completion of core curriculum for a prior felony or for completion of an
associate degree in college or equivalent can earn points deduction for
each prior felony used to enhance a sentence.

EXAMPLE OF OFFENSE CLASSES:

CLASS A Non-Capital FELONY:

7-10 Year base parole

CLASS B FELONY:

3-7 Year base parole

CLASS C FELONY:

1-3 Year base parole

For example, a person convicted of a ROBBERY would receive a parole base as
follows:

Robbery 1st degree 7-10

Robbery 2nd degree 3-7

Robbery 3rd degree 1-4

Assault 1st degree 6-10

Assault 2nd degree 3-16

Assault 3rd degree 1-3

Theft 1st degree 3-5

Theft 2nd degree 2-4

Theft 3rd degree 2 yrs max.

Manslaughter 1st 6-9

Manslaughter 2nd 3-6

Manslaughter 3rd 1-4

PART 2 SECTION 2

ALABAMA’S PRISON SETUP

LEVEL 6 PRISONS:

OPT-OUT CAMP.

Any person desiring to opt out of the E.R. & Re-E.P. will be assigned to an
opt-out facility and be processed pursuant to current ADOC regulations,
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and rules.

LEVEL 5 PRISONS:

STUDENT ORIENTATION:

LEVEL 5 PRISONS: These institutions will serve as 90 day to 180 day
orientation facilities, and will be where initial social/psychology
evaluations will be conducted and where parole bases will be set. These
facilities will also house the people who were formerly Capital and Death
sentenced, for 180 days to 1 year, respectively, for evaluation. Program
readjustment, program failures, and GED prep classes will be help at these
institutions.

LEVEL 4 PRISONS: These facilities will house students participating in GED,
SKILL AND TRADE DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL- PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS (such as Anger
Management for violent offenders, AA-NA treatment for addicts, etc.)

LEVEL 3 FACILITIES: These facilities will offer INTRODUCTION TO LIFE
SKILLS, PEER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MENTORING, AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
SKILLS. Also, these facilities will emphasize community volunteer programs
and have an emphasis on free world volunteers, religious and secular prison
ministries, and core curriculum and distance learning courses (the latter
may be used to qualify for point deductions from base parole set-ups).

LEVEL 2 FACILITIES: Residents assigned to these facilities will begin
Re-Entry Preparedness learning, including receiving practical computer
skills, learning the job market for their skill or trade, Home and Parole
Plan development, and continued learning and aftercare therapies.

LEVEL 1 FACILITIES: Residents at these facilities will receive practical
learning in Life Skills, including finding a job, creating a budget/savings
plan, opening a bank/checking/savings account, finding as apartment,
roommate, etc. for those without family assistance, and then Re-Enter
society.

PART 2 SECTION 3

EXEMPT PERSONS:

Exemptions:

Any person who has already served 21 Years or more, and who would not be
classified in LEVEL 1 status or need Special Review Parole, shall be
eligible for immediate placement in LEVEL 3 status.

Any person age 62 or above, who has already served 20 years or more and who
would not be classified as LEVEL 1 status or need Special Review Parole,
shall be eligible for immediate placement in LEVEL 2 status.

All persons in LEVEL 1 status or who require Special Review Parole shall be
eligible for Special Review Parole with one (1) year of passage of this
Bill into law.

PART 2 SECTION 4

DISQUALIFIED PERSONS

No person having committed and been convicted of two or more sex offenses
arising out of separate incidents, or an adult age 22 or above who commits
an offense against a child under 14, an elderly or disabled person shall be
eligible to advance beyond LEVEL 3 STATUS, and must seek Special Review
Parole.

PART 2 SECTION 5

SPECIAL REVIEW PAROLE:

ALL persons required to seek SPECIAL REVIEW PAROLE will be afforded an
opportunity to attend such hearing in-person, or by audio-video means, at
their discretion. In-person reviews shall be conducted semi-annually, and
audio-video hearings will be held quarterly. No person shall receive more
than one review per year, and upon completion of the program curriculum and
remaining in good standing, shall not be denied review for more than 3
years.

PART 2 SECTION 6

DUE PROCESS RIGHT

The provisions of this Bill create a substantive due process right pursuant
to the U.S. and Alabama Constitution, and any person subject to removal,
re-class, or other disciplinary action shall enjoy the right to challenge
such decision by Habeas Corpus in the proper jurisdiction as established by
Title 15, Code of Alabama 1975, and all provisions of the Alabama
Administrative Procedure Act applies to the ADOC in its entirety, Section §
41-22-3(9)g.1), to the contrary are hereby amended. All proceedings of a
disciplinary nature must be recorded by audio/video means.

PART 3 SECTION 1

Be it ENACTED that any person sentenced pursuant to the Habitual Felony
Offender Laws of this State, said applicable law must be charged in the
Indictment and proven in a bifurcated trial before the convicting jury,
(see U.S. SUPREME COURT decisions Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S.–(June
17,2013) Apprendi v. New Jersey, 536 U.S. 545 (2002); Rangel-Reyes v.
United States, 547 U.S. 1200 Slip Opinion (2006); and; §13A-5-10.1(b),Code
of Alabama 1975), with said requirements being retroactive to the passage
of this law to any person sentenced as a habitual offender.

Due to the fact that laws like the HFOA were enacted for the sole purpose
of creating a massive pool of free/cheap labor, these laws are forever
repealed. A prior felony is just that, a “prior” felony where the debt has
already been paid to society. Therefore, this form of double punishment
will be limited to the 1 or 2 point enhancement provisions as laid out in
Part 2, Section 1 of this Bill.

PART 3 SECTION 2

YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS

Be it also ENACTED that any person who commits any crime between the ages
of 18 and before reaching 22, shall be prosecuted as a Youthful Offender.
As a Youthful Offender, such individual shall be ineligible to be charged,
tried or convicted as an adult and cannot be sentenced to more than 15
years in prison.

Such offender shall be ineligible of being charged with a capital offense
or sentenced to life, life without parole or death.

With the recent decisions issued by the United States Supreme Court,
including its decision in Miller v. Alabama, concerning juvenile
prosecutions for crime committed when they were as young as 14, it SHOULD
now be obvious to the criminal justice system that modern science debunks
all theories that these children can be effectively prosecuted as adults.
Modern science shows that these children simply lack mental development to
sufficiently appreciate the magnitude of their conduct, and that they are
simply too young to make such decisions without taking into account
external influences.

Therefore, upon passage of this law, no child under the age of 18 may be
prosecuted as an adult in the State of Alabama for violation of any law of
this State where they would be sentenced to a prison designed to house
adults.

Children under the age of 18 shall be prosecuted under the laws designated
for juveniles and may be held in a juvenile facility until their 22
birthday, at which time they will be released.

Children age 18 and above, but under the age of 22, may be prosecuted in
adult court, but only under the laws designated for Youthful Offenders.
This law will become retroactive upon passage of this Bill.

All provisions of his law will become retroactive upon passage of this Bill.

PART 3 SECTION 3

JOINT HOUSE RESOLUTION

Be it ENACTED that the provisions set out in House Joint Resolution 575,
sponsored by Robinson(J) and Black(M), SHALL be declared the law of this
State, amending Sections 13A-5-9 (16, 17, and 18), and that any person
indicted-pursuant to these provisions, said Indictment must charge that
such offense was gang- related and that a vehicle was used as an instrument
to commit the offense.

The amendment and all provisions herein shall be retroactive upon passage
of this Bill.

PART 3 SECTION 4

PROTECTION OF THE MENTALLY ILL:

It shall be the policy of the State of Alabama that no person suffering
from a mental illness shall be incarcerated in a prison designed for
persons convicted of a crime.

Mentally ill people, who now compose appx. 50% of all people in prison,
need professional treatment in a mental health facility, not punishment.
Within 24 months of the passage of this Bill, the ADOC and the Governor of
the State of Alabama, in conjunction with the Executive Committee of Free
Alabama Movement, shall draft standard procedures which must be unanimously
approved or submitted to an approved arbitrator pursuant to Federal
arbitrator laws, for identifying and releasing all mentally ill persons
from ADOC custody by January 1, 2018.

PART 4 SECTION 1

ABOLITING ALL LAWS THAT PERMIT SLAVERY AND INVOLUNTARY SURVITUDE IN THE
STATE OF ALABAMA:

Be it ENACTED that no citizen or laborer in the State of Alabama shall be
required to work any job in this State without compensation of less that
the prevailing minimum wage in Alabama, including those citizens
incarcerated in the ADOC, and that no restrictions on forming a labor union
shall apply to any person performing labor within or for the Alabama
Department of Corrections.

After over 400 years, it is time to remove Any exception, practices, or
provision of law that permits slavery or involuntary servitude from the
1901 Constitution of Alabama,including ART. 1, SEC. 32, which reads:

SECTION 2

Slavery prohibited; involuntary servitude.

That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be
any involuntary servitude, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, of
which the party shall have been duly convicted.

PART 4 SECTION 2

WELFARE COMMITTEE

Be it also ENACTED that the Commissioner of the ADOC shall create a Welfare
Committee at each prison, composed of the men and women incarcerated, and
elected by their peers, and that such Committee shall have authority and
ownership over all prison stores, canteens, and incentive package programs,
with the ability to negotiate with their own suppliers.

The Welfare Committee shall be permitted use the profits from these
businesses that they and their families are the exclusive customers of, for
Education, Rehabilitation and Re-Entry Preparedness Programs, recreational
supplies, and infrastructure needs like computers, irons, ice coolers,
coffee pots, televisions, and incentive packages for elderly, disabled, and
destitute prisoners.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ORIENTED REHABILITATION

PART 5 SECTION 1

CONJUGAL VISITS

Be it also Enacted that upon the passage of this Bill, there shall be
allowed within the Department of Corrections conjugal visits, which shall
be allowed no less than every 14 days for any person who has served 2 or
more consecutive years within the ADOC, and that every person, upon
marriage, shall be able to consummate such Marriage with a conjugal visits.

PART 5 SECTION 2

VISITATION

Be it also Enacted that the visitation policy in Alabama shall be that
every person confined in the ADOC shall enjoy a four hour visit every
weekend, and that there shall be no restrictions placed on who may visit,
and a minimum of 20 people shall be permitted on each person’s approved
visitation.

PART 6 SECTION 1

VOTING RIGHTS

Be it ENACTED INTO LAW that every citizen of the State of Alabama shall
have the right to vote, and this Right shall not be denied to any person on
account of a criminal conviction.

The right to vote is a fundamental civil and human right, and a criminal
conviction has no bearing on this right to vote. Civil offenses have their
own punishment, and conviction of a criminal offense shall not affect civil
rights.

There simply is no logical or reasonable reason why any citizen should lose
their civil right to vote because they have been convicted of a criminal
offense.

PART 7 SECTION 1

OPEN MEDIA ACCESS TO ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

BE IT ENACTED as the Law of this State and the policy of the Alabama
Department of Corrections to allow unlimited access of the news media into
any and all State prisons at least 3 times per month upon a regularly
posted schedule, which shall be posted in each institution and made
available to the media.

Such access shall be permitted for at least 4 hours on the designated
media-day at any prison where permission from a member of the media is
requested. When media is on site no restrictions are to be placed on areas
where they may go.

Any media request to interview any person of interest to the media who is
incarcerated in an Alabama prison shall be conducted on this designated
media-day also. Such interview request shall be made at least one week in
advance and shall take place on the visitation yard.

No person incarcerated in ADOC shall be denied access to the media, and the
normal rules of visitation shall apply, except that the media shall not be
required to be on an incarcerated person’s visitation list. The media shall
not be restricted in any way from using audio, video or other recording
equipment on media-day.

In cases of emergency, such as rape, death, quarantine due to outbreak of
disease, or other matter of importance to the public, the media shall be
allowed access within 48 hours of the declared emergency situation.
Lockdowns, assault by officers and other issues shall not be grounds to
deny emergency or general media access.

For more questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this “FREEDOM
BILL”, please email us at:

On Jan. 22, 2015 – at Holman Prison Seg. Unit – unbearable living conditions caused myself and several of my comrades to take a stand for our well-being.

Due to my Membership Affiliation with the FREE ALABAMA MOVEMENT i was singled out and targeted (AGAIN) by Holman’s administrative officials because I wanted justice. I was extracted out of the cell and taken to the Admin. Shift office where i was questioned for hours. After refusing time and time again to work with the Administration to quiet the unrest by the youth, Captain Darryl Fails issued a death threat to myself, Mr. Robert E. Council, and Spokesperson Melvin Ray stating that he wish there was not so much media hype around what goes on in prison b/c they would love to do to us what they used to get away with yrs ago and they would silence us for good.

Warden Walter Myers agreed and said, “yeah, they lucky!” In turn i replied, “yall gonna have to kills us b/c it’s FREEDOM OR DEATH aint NOTHING else.” Seeing that fear was not a factor, i was dismissed.

MS Southern Belles

Come be a part of an Amazing Journey, help us bring empowerment to the incarcerated & their families: Mississippi Southern Belles, P.O. Box 442, Jackson, MS 39205, mississippisouthernbelles@gmail.com, (601) 345-1674

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